


a day feels like forever when i'm with you

by fleuriste



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, Movie Night, Time Loop, Tsundere Tsukishima (as usual), except yachi (sorry my darling), fun time shenanigans between your favorite karasuno first years, karasuno first years, lowkey tsukkiyama and kagehina, sleepover, very mild cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 06:31:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12053292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleuriste/pseuds/fleuriste
Summary: “What happens if we stay up? Does the day restart itself anyway?”“I've tried,” Yamaguchi sighs, “but as soon as it's midnight I fall asleep. It's like my body shuts down.”“Maybe all of us have to stay up,” Tsukishima muses. “Like an all or nothing thing.”“I have an idea,” Hinata announces. “A sleep-”“No.”“Stingyshima, I didn't even finish,” Hinata whines.“I already know what you were going to say. And no, we’re not having a sleepover.”-----Tsukishima Kei gets stuck in a time loop with Hinata, Kageyama, and Yamaguchi. They're not exactly the company he'd choose to relive the same day over and over again with (besides Yamaguchi), but not everything goes as expected.





	a day feels like forever when i'm with you

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first gen fic, originally written for the Tsukki Fanthology. I love my (OT4) first year dorks so much and I'm always down for Tsundere Tsukishima™ character development so here it is~

Tsukishima Kei is usually a morning person. He knows there are people who aren’t, like Yamaguchi or Asahi or Suga-san, who could probably sleep the whole day away if undisturbed. But as for himself, he’s used to waking up at 5 am on the dot no matter how late he sleeps, which is why he’s a little surprised when his mother is the one that wakes him up on Monday morning.

“Kei, aren’t you going to be late for morning practice?” she calls. “Kei?”

Tsukishima’s eyes reluctantly flutter open before one glance at his alarm clock gets him out of bed at a slightly quicker pace than usual. He changes into his uniform, brushes his teeth, and tosses everything into his backpack before heading out to the kitchen.

“Ohayou, okaasan,” he says, sitting down at the table. 

His mother smiles and inclines her head, sliding a bowl of seaweed rice and marmalade toast across the table. The toast is slightly burnt and the marmalade a little on the heavy side. So when his mother isn’t looking, Tsukishima quietly scrapes the offending parts into the folds of his napkin.

She kindly asks after the team and his classes with easy interest, and Tsukishima reminds himself to avoid giving her one-word responses until she says, “Oh, and Akiteru is coming home today,” and all he can reply is “Oh.” 

Because it’s not that Tsukishima is on bad terms with his brother, but it isn’t entirely easy either, although not from Akiteru’s lack of trying. In fact, it’s gotten a lot better since they talked after the Tokyo camp, but still, it’s just… complicated.

He departs the table shortly after hugging his mother and starts walking to Yamaguchi’s house, hoping he won’t have to throw a volleyball against his window to wake him up. It’s not a daily occurrence, but it has happened more than once and Tsukishima doesn't want to repeat such an act again. 

Luckily, the door swings open and a sleepy Yamaguchi comes out before Tsukishima’s even gotten to the front door. Since starting extra serve practices at Shimada Mart, Yamaguchi always seems to be tired, although he never complains. _The stress probably doesn’t help either_ , Tsukishima notes to himself. 

“Hi, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi yawns. “You’re up later than usual.”

“And yet you’re no earlier,” Tsukishima responds without heat. “Walk faster. I don’t want to have to do diving drills.” 

“Your legs are too long,” whines Yamaguchi, following after him like a zombie.

“Are you Hinata or something?” 

<<<<<>>>>>

When they finally arrive, everyone is already stretching with the exception of Daichi, who’s talking to Coach Ukai on the sidelines. Tanaka and Nishinoya are yammering about something stupid, probably, and as they get closer he hears snippets of their conversation. 

“It’s like, poster-size, and the quality is amazing! Glossy and everything. Just as beautiful as real life!” Tanaka says to Hinata. 

“Wow!” Hinata exclaims, impressed. “That’s so cool!” 

Sugawara looks less excited. “Did you really have to print a giant poster of Shimizu? We see her every day. And if you think Daichi’s just going to let you put that in the team room, you got another thought coming. What do you think he’s even going to say?”

Tanaka and Noya suddenly look about four shades paler. 

“Ohayou!” Yamaguchi says to brighten the mood, and everyone returns the greeting. 

“You’re late,” Kageyama grunts at Tsukishima from where Hinata is practically sitting on his back.

“Who died and made you king? Oh, wait…” Tsukishima retorts, and Kageyama glows an angry red. 

“Cut it out, it’s too early for bickering,” says Daichi, walking over. “And what's this I hear about a poster of Shimizu made without her permission?” 

<<<<<>>>>>

As if to reflect the morning, Tsukishima’s school day goes less than wonderfully. In English they're assigned a spur-of-the-moment presentation on idioms with assigned partners, and while Tsukishima knows the material inside and out, his partner turns out to be completely incompetent and they get a low score. In Japanese literature he's called up to the board to analyze their assigned reading last night, and again, while his interpretation is completely correct, the teacher scolds him for being monotone. And if all that isn’t enough, Yamaguchi accidentally gets soy sauce on his white dress shirt during lunch.

So during night practice when Kageyama unwittingly sends one of his impossibly fast, self-centered tosses his way, Tsukishima snaps. 

“Oi, King— be kinder to your peasants, will you?” says Tsukishima with a little more bite than usual. 

“Can you not keep up?” Kageyama retorts, whirling around. Tsukishima can almost hear the whoosh of his imaginary kingly mantle. “That toss was fine.”

Tsukishima laughs ironically. “Fine? You call that fine? Why, you must be stupider than I thought. You know I do things at my own pace. Just because you’re the famous ‘Kageyama Tobio from Kita-Ichi’ doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. There are five other people on this court. _Five_. Honestly, you call Hinata dumbass all the time but who’s the real _boke,_ huh? You—” He stops, suddenly realizing the entire gym is deathly quiet. 

Tsukishima looks around slowly, processing everything that’d just happened. Had he really just yelled at Kageyama in front of everyone? That was the kind of thing Hinata would do, but not him. Never him. But indeed, Daichi looks shocked and mildly disappointed, Hinata seems ready to jump to Kageyama’s defense, Yachi and Yamaguchi have identical looks of horror, and even Coach Ukai looks like someone just took his favorite bottle of sake away. The rest of the team have similar expressions. 

As for Kageyama himself, his face has turned a blotchy pink and while his eyes are hard and furious, there’s something else in them too— embarrassment. _But of course_ , thinks Tsukishima. _Anyone would feel embarrassment after being publicly humiliated like that._ And for a second he actually considers apologizing. 

But then Kageyama fixes him with a steely glare and says, dangerously quiet, “You don’t like my tosses, fine. But I’m not changing them. Not for you. You want to spike, you do it on my terms.” 

There’s a moment more of silence, and then Daichi says, hurriedly, “I think this is a good place to stop, it’s getting late.” Coach Ukai chimes in quickly with “Yes, yes, clean up. Good work today.” 

Everyone murmurs their assent and wanders off to do their tasks. Hinata sprints to Kageyama’s side and starts whispering loudly while the latter walks angrily, shoulders hunched. Tsukishima sees Yamaguchi glance at him worriedly a few times, but he knows better than anyone that right now, Tsukishima has invisible caution tape surrounding him. _Hazard, stay away,_ the tape would read. The tape would be right. 

Tsukishima feels numb as he loosens the volleyball net. Sure, he’s never been a big fan of Kageyama, but he took it too far. If there’s anything Kageyama takes immense pride in, it’s his tosses, which Tsukishima had blatantly insulted. But what the King had said in return was completely in line with his dictatorial nickname. _You want to spike, you do it on my terms_ , he’d said. Tsukishima feels his eyebrows knit together in disgust. 

“Come on, I’ll buy you all pork buns,” says Daichi in an effort to restore normalcy. Hinata and Tanaka let out tiny, half-hearted whoops, but other than that, the tension remains.

Tsukishima suddenly feels very tired. He doesn’t have time for this kind of drama, not if he wants to keep his grades pristine. But with the headache he has coming on, he knows there’ll be no studying tonight. 

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi questions when Tsukishima walks quickly in front of the pack. 

“You guys go ahead, I’m going home.” Then he leaves, ignoring the whispers that filter through his headphones and trail in his wake. 

When he gets home, he heads straight for the bathroom, ignoring the light coming from Akiteru’s room. His brother can see through him in a second, he knows, and he doesn’t feel like explaining anything right now. 

Later, Tsukishima’s phone buzzes as he turns off the light, preparing for sleep. He squints at it through the darkness. 

_Sender: Yamaguchi  
Kageyama didn’t exactly deserve that, you know._

He does know. Instead of replying, however, he sets his phone and glasses on his nightstand and closes his eyes, quickly falling into a deep sleep. 

<<<<<>>>>>

“Kei, aren’t you going to be late for morning practice? Kei?” 

“Again?” Tsukishima mutters drowsily, sliding his glasses onto his nose. “For the second day in a row?”

He goes through the morning motions on autopilot, slowly remembering yesterday’s events with a damp sort of dread. The soap dispenser is empty again, which he finds strange because he could’ve sworn he filled it yesterday night. And isn’t that the jacket he'd left at school the day before?

He heads to the kitchen and murmurs, “Ohayou, okaasan”, to which his mother nods and pushes breakfast across the table. Marmalade toast and rice. Toast slightly burned, again, with heavy marmalade. He sighs internally. 

It’s not until his mother starts asking him the exact same questions as yesterday that he looks up, slightly alarmed. Because not only is the wording identical, but when Tsukishima says in a gently exasperated manner, “Okaasan, you asked me this yesterday”, his mother looks confused. 

“No, I didn’t,” she says, looking worried. She presses the back of her hand to his forehead. “Are you feeling alright?”

He stares at her for a second. “Yes. Are you sure?”

His mother nods fervently. Then, with a glance at the clock, she starts jostling him towards the door. “Hurry! Oh, and Akiteru is coming home today.”

Tsukishima stops. “He’s not here already?” 

His mother looks at him with more intense concern. “No, he’s coming tonight. Honestly, Kei, are you okay? Do you want to stay home?”

“No, I’m fine,” he insists. _I need to know if this is just me, he thinks. Maybe Yamaguchi…._

So as soon as he hugs his mother goodbye, Tsukishima practically runs to Yamaguchi’s house. Again, Yamaguchi comes out of his house before he reaches the front door. 

“Hi, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi says, eyes wide. “You’re up later than usual.” 

Tsukishima racks his brain. Was Yamaguchi this awake yesterday? He can’t remember. 

Eventually he gives up and just grabs him by the shoulders. “Yamaguchi, did I or did I not go off on Kageyama in front of the whole team yesterday?”

Yamaguchi’s eyes are enormous, and for a second Tsukishima thinks he’s going to get the same reaction he got from his mother. But then he whispers, “Oh, thank god, thank god, it’s not just me, Tsukki’s probably in the same situation I’m in....”

Tsukishima feels relief wash over him like a tidal wave. Whatever’s happening, at least he isn’t crazy. Or, at least he isn’t the only crazy one. 

And if the day had somehow started itself over, then… he could pretend yesterday’s events never happened. 

“Okay, when did you know something was off?” Tsukishima asks, trying to sound neutral. “How did you know?”

Yamaguchi worries his lip. “I woke up and my room was a complete mess.” At Tsukishima’s are-you-kidding-me look, he backtracks. “I cleaned my room last night! I clean when I’m anxious, you know that, and after what happened yesterday with you and Kageyama… anyway, I woke and my room was a mess, and first I panicked and wondered if someone had somehow broken into my room when I was sleeping. Then I looked at my phone and realized the date still said Monday, which was weird, then I checked my notebooks and saw that yesterday's notes were missing. And when I went downstairs, my mother gave me the exact same speech about leaving the milk on the counter and I knew.”

“Huh,” Tsukishima says, mildly impressed but not surprised that he’d actually actively searched for clues.

“Do you think the same thing happened to anyone else at Karasuno?”

“I don't know. I hope not,” he adds quietly, and Yamaguchi hums in understanding. 

<<<<<>>>>>

When they first get to the gym, everything really does look the same as their day before, with Daichi talking to a Coach Ukai and the team doing stretches. Tanaka says to Hinata, “It’s like, poster-size, and the quality is amazing! Glossy and everything. Just as beautiful as real life!”, to which the latter replies, “Nice, senpai!” 

But then Yamaguchi says, “Ohayou”, and Kageyama’s head snaps up so fast his neck may actually be in danger, and Tsukishima thinks, _oh no_. And then Hinata gives Kageyama a fierce jab in the back without missing a beat in his ridiculous conversation and Tsukishima thinks, _NO._

“What's wrong, Tsukki?” whispers Yamaguchi, concerned.

Tsukishima presses his lips in a hard line and wills himself to calm down. He doesn't watch American movies often, but he's seen enough of them to be reasonably familiar with the time loop plot device. He's not exactly sure how they apply to real life, but— if he remembers correctly, it's not called a loop for nothing. It's one period of time, over and over and over again, until something changes. And if he's judging the situation correctly right now, the ones really stuck in the loop are himself, Yamaguchi, Kageyama, and Hinata. 

Tsukishima Kei does _not_ want to be stuck in a time loop with Kageyama Tobio and Hinata Shouyou. 

Tsukishima begins stretching and yanks Yamaguchi down beside him to do the same, saying nothing. Yamaguchi follows his lead without complaint but not without apprehension. 

When Daichi announces for everyone to start setting up, Kageyama shoots up from his hurdler stretch and stalks away to the storage room. Hinata sprints after him, arms waving like a windmill, and Tsukishima watches for about a second before he strides over as well. 

“Hey, wait, Tsukki—” Yamaguchi starts, following. 

Tsukishima catches up to where Hinata and Kageyama are whispering heatedly over the ball baskets and says, flatly, “Are you in the time loop too?” 

Hinata blinks at him, eyes wide. “What's a time loop?” he asks, and Kageyama glares at Tsukishima in furious confusion.

 _Oh my god what idiots_ , Tsukishima thinks. “It's when you're stuck living the same day over and over,” he says instead, managing to sound only very mildly annoyed. 

Hinata’s eyes are the size of saucers. “You too? And Yamaguchi? I thought… I thought maybe Kageyama and I were just special.” 

Tsukishima can't decide whether to find this statement appalling or hilarious. 

Yamaguchi laughs. “No, it's definitely us too. Although I'm not sure if it's necessarily a time loop. Could be just a one-time thing.”

“Let's hope so,” Tsukishima mutters. 

“Hey! I heard that,” Hinata harrumphs. “Well, I hope it actually is a time hoop—”

“Loop,” Yamaguchi corrects gently. 

“—because then we can keep practicing volleyball and get better and better and better and then we’ll beat all the other teams in the spring tournament! Right, Kageyama?” 

Tsukishima had forgotten about Kageyama. He tries to look bored as he turns slowly towards the setter in question, waiting to see his reaction. 

“Whatever, but I don't want to spend any more time with _him,_ ” Kageyama says after a moment, jutting his chin towards Tsukishima. And then he stalks off again, dragging Hinata with him to the latter’s dismay. 

Yamaguchi sighs. “Well, that could've gone better.”

“Could it?” Tsukishima wonders, and goes to set up the net without another word.

<<<<<>>>>>

The rest of the day occurs in almost exactly the same fashion like Tsukishima expects it to. The only difference is practice. There's no outburst, obviously, but Kageyama doesn't toss to him at all. Some of the team notices, and Coach Ukai pulls Kageyama aside during a break to tell him as much, but Kageyama only nods and then finds another excuse to set the ball to Tanaka or Asahi instead. By the end of practice, Tsukishima is significantly more frustrated than he thought he'd be. 

“He’ll get over it eventually,” Yamaguchi says during the walk home. “He has to. Besides, Hinata told me Kageyama doesn't really hold grudges unless you count Oikawa and Ushiwaka, and I don't even think those are actual grudges.”

“He can do whatever he wants, I don't care,” Tsukishima says monotonically, clearly caring. “Besides, maybe you're right. Maybe it's just a one-time thing and we can be done with this utter nonsense tomorrow.” 

“Perhaps,” Yamaguchi agrees unconvincingly.

Tsukishima goes to bed that night with his fingers crossed like a child. _Please let it be over tomorrow,_ he thinks. 

He wakes up to “Kei, aren’t you going to be late for morning practice?” and closes his eyes in defeat.

<<<<<>>>>>

Despite Hinata’s allegation that Kageyama doesn't hold grudges, Tsukishima finds this mostly untrue. For the next four or five repeated days, Kageyama ignores him completely. There's no interaction except for the minimal, necessary association on the court, and Kageyama still won't toss to him. Tsukishima can’t care less if Kageyama talks to him or not, really, but not getting to spike is starting to seriously piss him off.

Until one day at lunch, Yamaguchi runs into the classroom dragging Hinata, who is by extension dragging Kageyama, and sits them both down in adjacent desks. 

“Make nice, boys,” Yamaguchi says lightly, and then he and Hinata start jabbering about the latest issue of Monthly Volleyball. 

They don't “make nice”, per se (Kageyama fixes Tsukishima with a glare and the latter regards the former distastefully), but the silence seems slightly more companionable than hostile. On the third day of Yamaguchi’s meddling, Tsukishima buys a strawberry milk box at Sakanoshita Shop and knocks it onto Kageyama’s desk at lunch. Kageyama grunts and says nothing, but later at practice he sends him a high, arching toss, just the way Tsukishima likes them. 

“All good?” Yamaguchi murmurs later as they head home. 

Tsukishima looks up to the sky and nods, a tiny smile on his lips. 

<<<<<>>>>>

The daily repetition gets a little easier after that with two idiots to make things interesting, but not by much. Tired of waiting for the loop to run its course, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi start looking for ways to get out of it, and it isn't long before Hinata and Kageyama actually get tired of playing the same practice match and join them. 

“Honestly, I was hoping Tsukki and Kageyama reconciling would stop the loop,” Yamaguchi admits, picking at his bento box. “And now I don't know what we’re supposed to do.” 

Tsukishima nods. “I thought so too, although I'm not sure ‘reconciling’ is appropriate when we were never friends to begin with.”

“You beanpole asshole—” Kageyama starts, and promptly chokes on his onigiri. 

“Don't worry, Kageyama-kun!” Hinata says, leaping up to smack Kageyama on the back. “Stingyshima is just kidding, he actually loves being around us. You can see by the way his headphones are around his neck and not his ears.” 

Tsukishima scowls and yanks his headphones on, but then he tugs them off again after two seconds to say, “What happens if we stay up? Does the day restart itself anyway?”

“I've tried,” Yamaguchi sighs, “but as soon as it's midnight I fall asleep. It's like my body shuts down.” 

“Maybe all of us have to stay up,” Tsukishima muses. “Like an all or nothing thing.”

“I have an idea,” Hinata announces. “A sleep-”

“ _No._ ” 

“Stingyshima, I didn't even finish,” Hinata whines. 

“I already know what you were going to say. And no, we’re not having a sleepover.” 

“Come on!” Hinata’s voice goes up another octave. “It'll be fun! Have you ever even been to a sleepover?”

“Oh, Tsukki used to sleep over at my house all the time when we were younger!” Yamaguchi says animatedly. “He even kept a stuffed dinosaur in my room and held it every night.”

“Yamaguchi, _urusai,_ ” Tsukishima says, cheeks heating. “We don't talk about Takoyaki.” 

“Takoyaki?” Kageyama mutters at the same time Hinata says, “Okay, but that doesn't count. Yamaguchi’s so nice he'd let anyone into his house.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Tsukishima looks reluctantly to Kageyama for backup. “King, you're okay with this suggestion?” 

He gets none. Kageyama slurps at his milk carton, shrugs, and says, “I like Natsu. Last time she drew a volleyball on my face.”

“On your face...” Yamaguchi says, almost to himself. 

“It was a very nice volleyball. Correct colors and everything.”

“I mean…” Yamaguchi looks at Tsukishima. “It might be worth a shot.” 

Tsukishima rolls his eyes to the ceiling in resignation. “I hate all of you.”

The next morning, after Tsukishima wakes to the usual “Kei, aren’t you going to be late for morning practice,” he mentions the sleepover to his mother over breakfast. 

“Oh?” She frowns a little. “But Akiteru is coming home today.”

“Um,” Tsukishima racks his mind for excuses. “I’ll still see him tomorrow. And...it's Hinata’s birthday,” he lies. 

His mother smiles a bit at that. “I suppose that's fine, then. And I'm glad you have close friends like that, Kei,” she says, and reaches out to ruffle her son’s golden locks. 

A sudden lump in his throat forms. The time loop hasn’t become unbearable yet, but...he misses having conversations with his mother she’ll remember. 

“Have a nice day, okaasan,” he murmurs, and brushes a kiss on her temple. He leaves before the emotion starts showing in his eyes. 

<<<<<>>>>>

“Natsu, we’re home!” Hinata yells, swinging open the front door.

They’ve just finished practice, where Hinata and Kageyama had spent the entire time trying to hit nothing but their weirdo quicks. Honestly, Tsukishima doesn't know why they still show up to practice. Sure, the quick gets a little faster every day and Yamaguchi’s jump floater has improved in consistency, but it's so _boring_. But he also knows it would feel too strange to skip out, and so they go everyday, like clockwork. 

A tinier version of Hinata (if that's even possible) runs into the room. If Hinata Shouyo’s the sun, then Hinata Natsu is a fireball, blazing with excited energy. She scans the room until she sees Kageyama and literally leaps into his arms, shrieking, “Tobio-kun!”

Kageyama’s permanent scowl softens a little. “Hi, Natsu.” He opens his palm to reveal two milk caramels wrapped in pink foil. “Look.” 

“Is this actually happening,” Tsukishima states as Natsu squeals in delight. “Yamaguchi, pinch me.” 

Yamaguchi stares, open-mouthed. “Have Hinata do it, I think I'm having the same hallucination.” 

“Oh, yeah, Natsu loves Kageyama,” Hinata says enthusiastically. “I'm not sure why, since his face is just downright _scary_ sometimes, but they get along well. He comes over a lot, actually. I think it's because his parents aren't home much.”

 _So the King is human too_ , Tsukishima thinks. 

“Hello!” He snaps out of his trance to find the tiny redheaded girl staring curiously up at him. “How tall are you, mister?”

“I'm— I’m 190 centimeters,” he responds, surprised. 

“Wow! The air must be nice up there, huh?” And then she holds her arms out expectantly.

Tsukishima panics for a moment, shooting looks of alarm at the others. Hinata and Kageyama hide snickers behind their hands while Yamaguchi gives him an encouraging nod. “You can do it, Tsukki,” he mouths. 

Sighing, Tsukishima scoops her up and sets her carefully on his shoulders. She's light, and the way she bounces reminds him a little of an overexcited puppy. Despite himself, his heart swells a little when she touches the ceiling and gasps.

“I can touch the sky!” She positively glows with delight. “Hey, oniichan, how come when I sit on your shoulders I can’t touch anything?” 

Hinata’s grin vanishes. “See if I ever carry you again, brat.” 

Natsu blows a raspberry at her brother. “Then…” She taps the top of Tsukishima’s head. “You're going to have to come over all the time, Mr. Giant.”

Tsukishima smiles. 

“Okay.” 

<<<<<>>>>>

Later, the four of them lie on their respective futons and squint at Hinata’s computer. They’re watching an American movie with a time loop plot, and Kageyama keeps poking Hinata every two seconds to ask the meaning of a word. 

“This is stupid,” Kageyama declares. “Who even picked this?”

“I did,” Yamaguchi replies sheepishly. “I figured it was good research.”

“It is!” Hinata says. “And it's interesting. I like it, even though I also don't know what’s going on.” 

Tsukishima throws up his hands in disbelief. “There are _subtitles._ ”

“Well, I can't keep up with the subtitles and the action at the same time!” Hinata says defensively, and Kageyama nods vehemently in agreement. 

“Idiots. Actual, honest-to-god idiots.” 

“Hey!” Hinata chucks a pillow at Tsukishima, who catches it with one hand. He then flops onto the pile of cushions, orange hair looking like chicken feathers against the stark white of the sheets. “Why us, though? Like why are we the ones in the loop? Maybe it's a volleyball first years thing?”

“Yachi-san’s not in it, though,” Kageyama points out. 

“Huh, that's true.” Hinata yawns, then bolts upright. “Hey, maybe the volleyball club first-years at the other schools are like this too! Like Lev at Nekoma!” 

“Maybe, but I doubt it.” Tsukishima suddenly feels a little sleepy too. “We could go visit them, actually.”

“What! Go all the way to Tokyo?” 

“We could take the bullet train. Might be a bit expensive, but it's not like we’ll actually lose money unless the next day comes.” Tsukishima’s eyes close; Hinata’s spare futons are surprisingly comfy. “It'd be… fun.” 

“Kei, aren’t you going to be late for morning practice? Kei?” 

He blinks, regaining his senses. He's in his room and that's his mother’s voice he's hearing, but he could've sworn… _the sleepover._

“Okay, which asshole fell asleep?” Tsukishima accuses when he meets Yamaguchi, Kageyama, and Hinata outside the gym. 

Yamaguchi scratches his head in embarrassment. “Gomen, Tsukki. I'm pretty sure I was the first to knock out.” 

Hinata jabs his finger at Tsukishima. “But you were the second to fall asleep! And then Bakageyama fell over and started snoring, and somehow even though I was really really tired I couldn't sleep because I had half a can of energy drink. So I watched the movie on my own except I guess it must've struck midnight at some point because I didn't get to see the ending.”

Tsukishima huffs. “Then… I guess we need to have another sleepover.” 

“Another…” Hinata starts. 

“...sleepover?” Kageyama echoes. 

“Well, we still don't know if the staying up thing works, right? Do you guys want to be stuck here forever?” He tries to sound as unhappy about it as possible. 

“Well… okay!” Hinata bounces. “Let's get curry buns beforehand.”

Tsukishima’s glad they don't push it further. 

<<<<<>>>>>

Turns out it doesn't work. They show up to Hinata’s house at the same time as before and Natsu greets them in the exact same way, which means Tsukishima’s heart breaks a little when she asks him his height like she's never met him before. Which, technically, she hasn't, but it's hard to accept when she’d been sticking strawberry clips into his hair only a day ago. Later, Tsukishima and Kageyama are halfway through arguing about the new Jurassic Park movie when everything goes black. 

He gets out of bed the next morning with a sigh. 

The four start skipping class. The next day they really do take a train to Tokyo and visit Nekoma, and the way Kuroo, Lev, and even Kenma light up upon seeing them makes everything better, if only for a little while. On another day, Tsukishima texts Bokuto and Akaashi to meet them at a local cafe and when they have to part ways, Bokuto says, “Oh boy, what a surprise, I'll never forget this.”

It changes after that. They turn their days into adventures but avoid interaction with loved ones because it gets too difficult to bear. Tsukishima doesn't know how long they've been trapped, but it feels like forever. 

One afternoon they find themselves on yet another train when Kageyama suddenly blurts out, “Let's go to school tomorrow.” 

He doesn't say, _Let's go to school tomorrow because I miss class and I miss volleyball and I miss normalcy_ , but Tsukishima knows he's thinking it. They're all thinking it. 

“Okay,” he replies, and Yamaguchi and Hinata nod. The four of them watch the sunset through the train car windows without another word. 

<<<<<>>>>>

And so they go to school the next day and most everything plays out the way it did the first time, except, of course, the row at practice and the fact that eating lunch together has become the norm. After practice they go to Hinata’s house for video games and Tsukishima meets Natsu again, but this time he keeps her on his shoulders a little while longer. Hinata offers them dinner and futons, but Tsukishima and Yamaguchi decline politely. 

“I think… I think I'll have dinner with okaasan and Akiteru,” he murmurs. And so they part to “see you tomorrow”s, and Tsukishima wishes tomorrow actually existed. 

He and Yamaguchi take turns kicking a pebble all the way home. “You miss them, don't you,” Yamaguchi says, sending the pebble a good six feet away. 

Tsukishima nods. 

Yamaguchi sighs. “I do too. But I mean, this time loop hasn't been all bad. It's been nice spending time with Hinata and Kageyama, don't you agree, Tsukki?”

“Will it all matter, though?”

Tsukishima hears Yamaguchi stop. “What?”

“Say the time loop ends tonight. Will everything go back to normal? Will it be like before?” 

“Before, as in… Oh.” Yamaguchi chuckles; they've reached his house. “Oh, I think we're all more worried _you'll_ put things back to how they were before, not the other way around.” He smiles, then heads for the front door. “See you, Tsukki.” 

<<<<<>>>>>

Dinner with his mother and Akiteru is uneventful, and yet even just sitting at the same table as them makes Tsukishima feel peaceful. They talk about nothing and everything (well, they talk, he listens) and after dessert, he and Akiteru go outside to pass an old volleyball around.

“How's the team doing?” Akiteru asks. Tsukishima shrugs. 

“Oh, Kei.” Akiteru chuckles. “I still wonder how you became so cool.”

He hesitates, then says, “All I ever wanted was to be like you, oniichan.” 

Akiteru’s eyes widen at his blatant honesty and the volleyball stops in his hands. After a moment, he drops it, instead striding over to grab Tsukishima in a giant hug. 

“Never shut us out,” he says fiercely. “You may not need okaasan and me, but we need you, Kei. So much.” 

_But I do need you guys,_ he thinks. He doesn't say it, but he lets it show in the way he hugs back, almost imperceptibly. The crickets chirp their approval. 

<<<<<>>>>>

Tsukishima Kei wakes to… nothing. 

Nothing, as in no “Kei, aren't you going to be late to morning practice?” He simply wakes with no fanfare, and when he glances at his alarm clock, it reads 5:00. 

_Could this mean…_ He bolts out of bed and into the kitchen. 

His mother and Akiteru are sitting at the table, chatting happily. 

With a wide grin, he dresses in his uniform and organizes his bookbag. Breakfast is no longer seaweed rice and marmalade toast, and the conversation is not only about him but Akiteru as well. Later, he actually runs to Yamaguchi’s house for the first time since he was 12, and the excitement that bubbles inside him feels like something old and something new, all at once. 

“Yamaguchi,” he yells, as Yamaguchi runs out his front door. 

“I know, Tsukki, I know!” Yamaguchi shrieks back, beaming from ear to ear. 

Hinata and Kageyama find them before they even get halfway to school, Hinata tackling the two of them to the ground in a flash of orange hair and loud noise. Kageyama collapses near them, yelling obscenities but actually smiling, and Tsukishima thinks lightheartedly, _it was all worth it._

<<<<<>>>>>

Hinata is still on Tsukishima’s back by the time they enter the gym, and Yamaguchi is half-carrying Kageyama because the latter had skinned his knee badly somewhere along the way in the usual idiotic fashion. 

Tanaka and Noya are cradling the Shimuzu-san poster to their chests, babbling a defense while Daichi stares them down, but they immediately shut up at the sight of the four first-years. Everyone does, actually.

“Is Tsukishima… laughing?” Asahi whispers, sounding spooked. 

“I think so,” Suga responds, looking dazed. “They all are, actually. I wonder what happened yesterday?” 

Tsukishima simply smiles to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> come scream with me about first year shenanigans on tumblr @momokkoi !


End file.
